A Sharpshooter's Journey
by SHADawn
Summary: 12/29/12 REVIVED - New Chapter 5 - Mega Man X - Does one ever wonder whatever became of Axl? Does one wonder why he merely disappears when the events of MMZ take place? Does one feel dissatisfied with the ending of X8? For those who need the answer, join Axl as he fills in the dark holes...
1. Chapter 1

_**(I OWN NOTHING! IT IS THE DOING OF CAPCOM!)**_

_Are you sure he's fine?_

_I can't say…it's too soon to determine anything. _

_Damn it all! I should have acted faster, then maybe he - _

_We couldn't have expected that last attempt._

_He's right. All we can do is fix what we can, and hope that he will get better._

He found himself floating in a sea of clouds, with reflecting hues of egg and cream in all directions. The sky seemed as if it were stained by the dim color of the light. He felt at peace, and fearful at the same time as well. He tried to move about, but found himself unable to. The clouds seemed to be…circling him. Homing him out. Far off into the distance, he noticed a curious figure approaching. It appeared as dim as a phantom, with the wings of a celestial being. Those piercing eyes are what kept him from turning. The glowing, yellow orbs seemed as if they had placed a spell on him. Memory began to fill his thoughts, but could not understand the jumbles of events flooding before his view. Stinging…he felt a stinging sensation atop his forehead. The rush of pain and darkness consumed him. He remembers the throbs and waves of pain, and then the blanket of nothingness covering him. A battle, he remembers battling a being such as the one that comes to him. He looked closer, and the sudden feeling of anxiety filled his being. A slash of pain assaulted his pondering, which left him gasping for non-existing air. He couldn't remember where he had seen that creature. The being slowly moved closer toward him, until he could see the unknown creature's facial expressions. It seemed to be…smiling. No, it was grinning wickedly at him. Sudden adrenaline pumped through his body, but it was for naught, as he still could not move a single limb.

_You think you've won? _The being chimed in his thoughts.

Wide-eyed, he couldn't even begin the process of responding. The ability to do so seemed beyond him. He tried to do something; anything to show that he had heard, but not necessarily understood what the ghostly being had said.

_You have accomplished nothing. It's all up to you, now. You hold the power to forever change the world, though I doubt you'll ever put it to good use. _The creature lifted its hands, and cupped the face of the scared-beyond-death reploid before him. _It is all I can do to continue in this failing world. I can do nothing. It is beyond my powers to do anything, now._

He did not understand what the phantom was talking about, but deep down, he felt the words as true. He absorbed all that he had heard, in hopes that something else would happen. He wanted to escape the atmosphere, the world that seemed to have stopped. A sudden feeling of control was regained, and interpretation of all the confusing flashbacks in his mind began to form information.

"W-w-what…" he stuttered, looking to the being with a stern gaze, "do you mean? I won't do anything to destroy the world. What y-you were going to do…" He straightened himself in the strange dimension. "You were going to kill all the humans!"

The phantom merely gave a chuckle. _Like I said, it is up to you now. Consider it a gift, for dooming the reploid race forever._

"No, you're wrong! We reploids weren't destined to do such a crazy thing! All life…we were meant to live together. With no more battles." The feel of a familiar pistol in his hand fueled his courage further. "With my friends, this is what I learned!"

The figure chuckled once again, and began to ascend toward the tip of the circling clusters of haze. _If you truly believe that, then use all your power to make it come true. If you are right, at least there might be some hope for our future._

The being's voice became distant. All around the dimension, the light began to dim to a shaded blue, then it plummeted to a gloomy purple. Power filled his body, until he could feel the physical traits of being functional. He heard familiar voices toward that warm feeling of darkness. He allowed it to take him, to relieve him of the solitude.

_Is he waking up? Is he okay?_

_He's recovering still. We shouldn't expect him to -_

_No, I see it. He's waking._

_Axl!_

Green, groggily eyes lifted, and for some seconds, all was one hue of color. Primary colors slowly blended into the hazy shapes, as they began to sharpen. Distant chattering tuned into focus. Axl tried to lift his head, but found himself connected to a machine on the back of his head. A transparent membrane floated over him, and scores of little lasers and grips danced over his face. He was lying on a platform, securely strapped on so he would not slide away from his comfortable position. It took him some time to recognize that he was inside a repairing capsule. Off to his left, three figures stood closely together and toward the glass. One was a deep shade of blue, with a bright red gem at the center of his helmet. One had light, blonde hair, with a communicating device around her head, and the last character was a brilliant color of crimson, with long, bright blonde hair behind his sharp helmet, which was decorated with a blue, shining gem.

"Axl," the blue reploid called out, "are you okay?"

Axl tried hard to understand the muffled voice from behind the glass, but his thought processing was a little stuffy. Incoherent sounds escaped his lips.

"Take it easy, Axl, you don't have to speak," the female reploid said, as she went behind a monitor with Axl's readings. "You still have a lot of recovering ahead of you."

"Who would have thought Lumine's final attack could have done so much damage," the blue reploid whispered, and the red one nodded.

Slowly, Axl was beginning to remember something. He was fighting Lumine, who had gone maverick, on the moon, after Sigma was finally defeated. He remembered Lumine morphing into a more powerful body, and then, a sudden flash of darkness. What had happened to him? "X…Z-Zero…" he mumbled.

Nobody seemed to have heard. He mustered the strength to speak louder, but the feeling of peace filled him. The little instruments hovering slowed, and then retreated into their compartments. The restraints unlatched, allowing Axl to hunch in his seat.

"There, now we should leave him to recover." Alia, the navigator, typed in some commands and codes, and left the monitor. "He should be fine in a couple of days."

Zero, the crimson reploid, concerned, expressed a doubting face. "What about the dark shard that was inside him…what was that?" Inside, Zero was deathly afraid that Axl may have been infected by Lumine's attack, and hoped that he wouldn't go maverick.

Alia furrowed her brow. "It's hard to say…it isn't anything that's hurting Axl's functions, but nonetheless there will be scans to find out what it is. For now, we should worry about Axl's recovery."

Zero nodded, and looked to his blue friend, who was like a brother to him. X seemed distant, as he continued his watch over Axl. A familiar emotion crossed his facial features, which made Zero concerned, but only a little. He was well aware of how sensitive X was about fighting, so Zero understood what he was going through. A long and deep sigh relieved him of the recent events. It would never change. With the defeat of Sigma at long last, there seemed to be ray of hope that the war with mavericks would be over, but Sigma was never behind the horrific plot to exterminate "the old world." The whole time, it was all Lumine. For the whole fight, the hunters had fallen into every one of his traps. The ability to go maverick at will…Zero couldn't believe it. There didn't have to be a virus anymore; reploids were choosing to go maverick. No, he thought. There still had to be some explanation.

"X," Alia called. "Let's go. Axl's going to be fine."

Not looking up, X looked at his good friend one more time, and then turned to leave the room, along with Zero and Alia. "I know," he whispered, more to himself. "He's a hunter. Hunters never give up." He left it at that, as the door shut behind him.

Axl vaguely heard their words, as he was being sucked into a state of calmness. He felt a little beat up, but he wasn't worried. He could feel that he was going to be fine, however, he felt a bit different. An unfamiliar feeling was growing inside him. A sort of…energy. Axl could feel it in the deepest corners of his mind. For now, the strange feeling wasn't concerning, but the strange dream about the mysterious figure had Axl worried more than a little. The figure looked like Lumine; the figure _was _Lumine. He had said that he gave him a power that was his to use in any way he wanted. Was it the power that would make him maverick? Lumine himself had said that he didn't have the "specks" to become a maverick, but what if he gave him that opportunity? Axl remembered Lumine's words then. He could use the power however he wanted. If he wanted to use it in favor of the Hunters, then he could do it. It was his power now, and he was going to use it in anyway he wanted.

Axl sat up from his seat. He knew he wouldn't be able to leave until he was clear to do so, so he decided to try to harness Lumine's power; his new power. He hadn't a clue how to do it, so he tried thinking about the power, in hopes of getting a reaction. Seconds pass, and for a moment, Axl could feel a sudden burst of energy go off. He wasn't sure if it was him blowing a fuse or something, but he kept on trying. Nothing. He couldn't let out the power again, if he ever had let it out at all. Suddenly, a swirl of fatigue arose, making Axl fall back into his chair. His exertion must have tired out what little energy he had left. He decided as soon as he was better, he would try again. He felt pain inside and outside, but mostly within his mind. He suddenly remembered that Lumine attacked his gem, a very sensitive part. Slowly, he reached up to touch the gem. It was repaired. Unsatisfied, he tried to remove his helmet, but there was not enough room in the narrow capsule. He looked at the glass in frustration, when he noticed that he could see a faint reflection of himself. He tried to see the reflection of the gem, to see the repairs, but there was not enough detail to make out anything. Looking harder, Axl then realized that his gem was a different color. It was supposed to be blue. Looking at the thin reflection, he could see as clearly as a bull's-eye that it was a deep shade of purple. He suddenly felt scared. Of course it worried him. It worried him a great deal.


	2. Chapter 2

_**(IT IS ALL CAPCOM'S FAULT! NOT MY IDEAS! AXL FTW!)**_

He heard a subtle whistling sound inside his mind. Screens of codes and pictures endlessly flashed before his eyes. He couldn't make out any of the screens that zoomed around his sight. Static buzzed in his ears, and a piercing wail of machinery assaulted him. He began to hear a faint voice within his consciousness. He couldn't understand what the voice was telling him, even though it was speaking clearly. The language…he couldn't understand the language of the voice. Sounds of his life's experiences began to echo in his mind, and memories of his past scrolled around in his memory chip. He didn't know what to think about the strange hallucinations; he merely stared at them. Unthinking…

Axl opened his eyes. The room was dark, except for the lights shining from the capsule's monitor. His armor's light shined a pale blue. Axl checked his internal clock. He had been sleeping for five days. He did a mental check of his bodily functions, and found himself to be fine. The monitor across from him began blinking, and then the pressure locks of the capsule released themselves. The glass covering lifted upward. Axl slowly sat upward, remembering how to move. The monitor blinked one more time, and turned off. He sat there for a moment, thinking of what to do. The door suddenly slid away, and there stood Alia.

"Axl," she called to him, "you're awake now."

He looked to her, but couldn't think of anything to say, as if the basic action of forming a sentence deleted itself from his systems.

"So, how do you feel?" she asked him. She turned on the light and sat in front of the capsule's computer, and began to type in some commands.

Axl tried hard to say the right word with his voice. "S-s-slow…" he slurred.

"Oh, that's normal. You've just recently been cleared from the system, so you'll be a little groggy."

Axl tried to lift himself out of the capsule, but he fell right back into his seat. He gave out a sigh, and decided to wait until his brain unscrambled itself.

Alia looked at the screen with interest, and frowned a bit. She began to click and type some stuff, maintaining her facial expression. Seemingly confused, her typing began to speed up, and her clicking around became frantic. "What is this…?" she whispered to herself.

Axl, barely catching her words, slowly turned his head toward her. Alia continued to scroll through things, but Axl didn't know what she was looking at, as the computer's back was to him. Axl's eyes began to droop from the lack of action.

"Axl," Alia said sternly, "You need to tell me how you feel. Tell me everything."

He shook his head to recharge himself, but groaned when his vision suddenly blurred. He smacked his helmet, trying to wake himself up. He seemed as if he didn't hear her words.

Alia walked his way and stood next to him. "Axl?"

He looked to Alia, and she gave off a sigh of relief when his eyes focused on her.

"Okay Axl, you do feel…different?"

Axl lifted an eyebrow at her in confusion. "Different?" he asked.

"Does your body feel different?" Alia continued.

Axl mentally checked his body again, but didn't sense anything unusual. "No, not really…" he said slowly. "Why?"

Alia gave off another sigh, and stood up, making her way back to the computer. She gave the monitor a scan with her eyes. "Well, the computer detected significant changes to your systems."

As if the statement finally shook him out of his daze, Axl turned his head toward Alia, with focused attention. "What?" he asked.

Alia began to look through the capsule's history. "The computer detected a new program of a sort, and it seems to have spent most of the time fixing it." She skimmed through the given information, as if to confirm that what she was saying was true.

Axl cocked his head. "What program?" he asked her.

Alia shook her head. "I can't tell what it is, but it seems to be affecting your copy ability."

Axl's eyes widened. Suddenly he remembered the strange glowing light atop his helmet. He frantically slipped it off, and scanned his gem. Alia noticed his sudden action, and looked at him with concerned eyes. Axl couldn't believe what he was seeing. His gem was blue again. The eerie purple color was gone. Did he dream the whole scene? Did the battle with Lumine even happen? Had Lumine damaged his body? What did he do to his copy chip? Axl thought a thousand things at once, but couldn't find the one thought that would make everything make sense. A sharp ringing screeched in his ears.

"Ghaggghhhk!" he screamed out, and grabbed his head in pain.

"Axl!" Alia cried, and quickly ran to him. "What's wrong?"

The sudden ringing slowly faded away, and Axl opened his eyes.

"Axl?" Alia called out.

"What's wrong with my copy chip?" Axl replied, ignoring her words.

Alia, not responding immediately, grabbed onto his shoulders and looked to him, with worry on her face. "Nothing is wrong. The computer didn't see the new program as a threat, so it fixed whatever it is that upgraded your copy chip."

Axl, not believing her, climbed out of the capsule, and slipped his helmet back on, with Alia following him. He made his way toward the computer, and began to go through all the open windows. Axl's eyes grew in size. "My…systems," he whispered to himself. "They're all higher."

"Huh?" Alia breathed out, and went to the computer.

Axl continued to scurry around the computer's readings, as an inner feeling of anxiety began to grow. None of it made any sense. All of his readings…they couldn't be his. He didn't even recognize any of the information. He scrolled through the numbers, and compared them to what he felt now. It wasn't the same. He sat down on the seat, confused terribly, staring at the screens of scanned systems.

Weapons system - updated.

Hovering system - updated.

Armor capabilities - updated.

Sensory functions - updated.

Copying systems - updated.

Axl clicked onto the copy readings, and scanned through the information before him. He couldn't believe it. It had to be wrong. There was no possible way it could ever have happened. Axl read the one sentence repeatedly, to make sure that he was misreading it. He was reading it right. It wasn't wrong.

Copying capabilities - complete.

"What is it, Axl?" Alia asked him, deeply concerned.

Axl looked to her, with astonishment. "My copying power is…complete. It's like I'm not a prototype anymore." Axl backed away from the screen. Was he happy? Scared? Was he both? His eyes brightened with realization. He finally found the memory inside his mind. With the discovery of his changed gem, and the harnessing of his new power, it all seemed clear to him now. Lumine's power had completed him. That was his new power. No, no, no…he quickly dismissed that possibility. He knew how the power felt. He wasn't feeling it now, so that couldn't be it. Whatever it may be, he was not feeling it at that moment. That wasn't it, he thought to himself.

"What do you mean complete?" Alia asked him, snapping him out of his thinking.

Axl stood up from his seat. "I've always been different from other reploids. Even from reploids who had the same power like me. I just learned that I'm a prototype of the new generation reploids, so I thought that was the reason why, but now…" Axl eyed the monitor. "My copy ability was flawed. Inferior. Lumine must have made me stronger."

Alia, utterly surprised, did not know what to say.

Axl couldn't understand why he was freaking out. He wasn't scared, but at the same time, he wasn't calm about the whole situation. Maybe he felt a bit overwhelmed. Deep down inside, Axl could feel that nothing was truly wrong. Alia continued to stare at him, unsure of what to do.

"B-but how is that so?" Alia said, not understanding.

"I…can't really explain it. I had this weird dream of Lumine saying that he had given me some kind of power. I didn't know what to think after that." Axl took a glance at his information. "Now I think I can't deny it anymore."

Alia looked at him with concern, thinking out a possible explanation. "You think it was when Lumine struck you?" she asked him.

"I don't know," he replied. "Maybe that's it."

"If it is, then what will you do about it?"

Axl thought about her words for a moment. What was there to do? He didn't choose to have whatever it was that Lumine gave him, but now, he didn't know what to do. He couldn't dismiss the incident that had happened. Maybe there was a reason Lumine had attacked him; not just because he got too close and threatened Lumine's dying body. If it had been either X or Zero receiving the attack, what would have happened to them? They were nothing like him. Axl could recognize that his fellow hunters were unique from the other reploids, so he thought about the possibility that X or Zero would reject Lumine's "gift," as he had called it.

He decided then. "I'm not gonna do anything."

"You what?" Alia replied. "How come?"

Axl merely gave her a smile. "I'm not going to let it bother me. Whatever I have inside me, it's mine to control. Simple as that!"

Alia let out a small sigh. "Well then, there's nothing else to worry about, is there?" She gave Axl a small smile, and then began to close his readings on the computer. "You should go tell everyone that you're okay. They've been worrying for the past five days, especially Zero."

Axl blinked at that statement. "Zero's been worried about me?" he asked her.

"Of course," Alia replied. "This whole incident has been driving him nuts. You should go find him and tell him you're safe."

For some reason, Axl felt a sense of happiness. Zero, the cool-and-collected hunter, scared for him…Axl found that amusing.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll go find him. Do you know where he's at?"

Alia thought a minute. "He's probably in his room, but I doubt it…"

"Cool," Axl cheered, and made his way toward the door, but Alia quickly grabbed at his hand, making him stop. "What?" he asked her.

"He and X may not be at the base. A recent mission came up, and X and Zero may have left to take care of it."

"It wouldn't hurt to look for them," Axl pointed out, and quickly left to begin the search. He would go find Zero first, because he was worried the most.

Alia could only smile at her departing friend. It looked like Axl was finally back.


	3. Chapter 3

_**(Chapter has been edited! Do not worry! Story has not changed! Only structure and grammar was affected! The generous reviews command it! Owned by Capcom!)**_

It was relieving to hear that the remaining followers of Lumine were located, and that no other uprisings had surfaced anywhere else in the world. Axl absorbed every piece of news that fellow hunters shared with him. It looked like the world was going to survive the crisis. Sigma's palace on the moon had been secured, but not by reploid hunters. It was decided that the Sigma encountered inside the palace was indeed the real Sigma, and that all reploid hunters were forbidden to travel to the moon, lest there was a chance that they could contract the Maverick Virus from his corpse.

Axl wondered then if it was enough. He wondered if the war with the mavericks would continue, even with the death of the most infamous maverick in history. It was a possibility, he thought. After all, the new generation reploids were going maverick of their own free will, because they were seeing what Lumine had realized. What did he realize, Axl said to himself.

_It's all up to you, now…_Lumine's words were beginning to eat him inside. He couldn't shake the feeling that his involvement in all of the chaos was only beginning. While wandering the halls of MHHQ, he recalled his strange dream. Was it even a dream? Did Lumine himself contact him, even after his death? Axl felt like he was going around in circles about the whole issue. Nothing could be done. He had to accept what Lumine had said to him, whether he liked it or not. He knew that he would never become maverick. Deep down, he could feel that it was not a possibility.

Axl thought about his past then, back to the days when he knew absolutely nothing about himself. He looked to himself now, at how much he had grown over time. With the help of his friends, he was able to become a Maverick Hunter. He thought he knew what his purpose was, but now he wasn't so sure. Long ago, he told himself that he didn't need to worry about his origins, but now he was beginning to think that such knowledge was necessary for his certain problem. It would have been better if he just understood himself a little more. The truths about his life were unknown to him, this he could not change, but he wasn't going to let his future leave him in the darkness anymore. If he couldn't have a past, then he would just aim for his future. He was never one to worry over such issues.

"Axl, is that you?"

Axl turned around to face one of the headquarters' navigators, who had tightened, blonde hair, with various contraptions about her head, and wore light green armor. She scanned him up and down, and gave off a smile.

"Oh wow! It _is _you! You're okay!" she sang, and lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"Whoa!" he yelled out, nearly falling over. He swore he heard his armor bend under her hugging force, but it only seemed to get worse if he tried getting himself free. "Oh! Hey, Pallette."

She gave him one more squeeze before finally letting go. "I can't believe you're okay! This is so great! So, how have you been?"

Axl gave off a smirk. "I feel great, just a little wobbly."

"Really?" she said, and placed a finger on her lower lip. "Hey, you should do some training simulations. That should get you back into shape."

Axl beamed at that. It would probably do him some good if he went off to stretch out some wiring. "Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks Pallette!"

"No problem!" she said, and waved at him as she turned to take her leave.

As soon as she did, Axl suddenly remembered something. "Hey, wait up, Pallette!" he called out, and reached for her shoulder.

"Huh?"

"Do you know where I can find X and Zero? I haven't been able to find them, and nobody seems to know where they are…" Axl folded his arms, and leaned on one foot. "I really wanted to see them, and tell them that I'm okay."

Pallette looked to the ceiling, trying to remember if she had run into the S-class hunters. With so many minds on the lingering maverick problem, even simple memory was being used up. "I haven't seen them either. I heard they went off to some sort of meeting with the superiors of the base, but I can't say for certain."

"A meeting?" Axl asked. "What kind of meeting?"

Pallette frowned. "It's probably about the issue with the new generation reploids. World leaders contacted the headquarters some days ago."

Axl raised an eyebrow in wonder. "So you think that's it?"

"I don't know," Pallette simply said. "Everybody's been so focused on tracking down the remaining mavericks that are in liege with Lumine, that nobody's really been paying attention."

Axl knew that had to be it. It wasn't just about the new maverick problem. He wondered what would become of the plot to colonize into space. It was a huge issue that was deeply imbedded into the need of new generation reploids. Without one, the other had no chance of happening.

"Thanks, Pallette. I'll look into it."

"Sure thing, Axl." She gave him one last smile, and took her leave once again.

As he stood there, in the hallway still, he tried to put everything in perspective. With Lumine's defeat, what will become of the new generation reploids? Will the plans for the moon still happen? If he were ever in a situation of deciding what was best for the entire world, he wondered if he could ever handle such responsibility. Even though the fight against Sigma was finally over, mavericks were still an issue. The world needed to recollect itself from its recent crisis, and Axl needed to find more answers. He gave off a sigh. What could he do? The only thing he was good for was fighting. He wasn't an important political figure in the world who resolved issues with words and ideas. To him, fighting was the only way to solve the problems. He decided that's what he was going to do. It was up to him, now.

^ x ^ ^ x ^ ^ x ^

X sat back in his seat, as he gave off a huge sigh. There was nothing more he could do. He scanned the meeting room filled with human leaders and people from the new generation reploid facility, and Commander Signas, who was shuffling some papers. Zero, who sat across from X, did his best to not take out his beam saber and go on a rampage. It wasn't fair. They couldn't do that to him. Zero crossed his arms over his chest, and kept his eyes shut, trying hard not to lose control of himself.

"So it's decided, then…" X softly said, and looked away from the superiors, unable to hide his sadness anymore.

Zero caught the sight, which only made him angrier. From the start, he didn't want to go through with this. It enraged him so much, that his main hand began to quiver from the urge to rip something apart. It was his anger that hid his true feelings of lament.

"The decision is final," one human man dressed in a suit said. "You are to bring all new generation reploids to us, including the prototype, for termination. The leader of our facility commands it."

"There has to be another way!" Zero suddenly roared, and rose from his seat. "There just has to be…" Overwhelming feelings suddenly paralyzed his voice, making him sit back down.

"Oh, Zero," X mumbled. He had nothing more to say. He would leave it to Commander Signas. He quietly prayed to whatever deity lent their ears to androids.

Commander Signas, leader of MHHQ, shook his head, but kept his composure. "He is one of our best hunters. Is this really necessary?"

"It can't be helped," a dressy woman replied. "He is one of them."

"No," Zero whispered to himself. Nobody seemed to have heard him.

"What if you are wrong about him?" Signas indicated, capturing everybody's attention. "What are your intentions if he is benign?"

"It matters not," the woman continued. "Our superiors have decided. He will be held within our research facilities, in search for answers regarding the 'will to become maverick.'"

"We must find the reason why our advanced technology is succumbing to the virus still," the man added, which almost made Zero laugh out loud in their faces.

Signas stood up from his seat. "We have already explained that it is not the virus's doing."

"Have you any evidence?" the man asked him. Signas merely stared at him, giving the man the satisfaction that he had nothing to show.

"There's no need of evidence," Zero whispered. "My battle with Lumine is enough confirmation." As he spoke his words, flashbacks from that fateful battle replayed themselves for some seconds, which made his body shake slightly.

"Unfortunately, your ocular proof is not enough for our leaders," the woman replied, giving the crimson reploid a hard stare. Zero returned the stare with double the ferocity, which made the woman turn away.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may?" Signas said, breaking the beams of stares here and there. "It has been stated that the new generation reploids are becoming maverick simply because they are choosing to. It is the same as a human thinking of committing a heinous crime; it's all a matter of deciding. Axl is a loyal hunter, and is devoted to protecting the peace, therefore he would never think of becoming a maverick simply because he thinks about dooming the human race."

"No amount of words will change the verdict," the man added, and Signas quietly groaned to himself. "The decision of inspecting him, that is."

"Pardon?" Signas asked, and the woman turned to her associate.

"Your final statement has made me think twice about the decision," the man explained, and the woman raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What are you getting at?" Zero asked, anxiety in his voice.

"We will take him," the man continued, "and if we see that he is incapable of ever transitioning into a maverick, then his future may not be so bleak."

Signas nodded. "I trust you will persuade the higher-ups of your final decision?"

"We will try."

"Very well, then," the woman uttered. "We will do our best to spare your friend, but it is not certain."

"I assure you," her partner added, and the woman turned to regard him. "We will do everything in our power to convince our superiors."

Zero sat back in his seat, relieved that there was some hope for his friend. X looked to Zero, and gave off a big grin. Zero returned the smile with a cool smirk.

"We take our leave now," the woman announced, and all other participants of the meeting raised themselves from their seats.

"Let's go see him," X said to Zero. "Let's go see Axl."

Zero nodded. "To tell him the news."


	4. Chapter 4

_**~Author's Note Alert!~ (Damn! How many weeks has it been? Well, it's been way too long, if ya ask me. I need to learn to be consistent! Many readers are counting on me! I mustn't disappoint them all with laziness and writer's block! I had other chapters done, but they were rushing the story, so I destroyed them. I still have to figure out how to novelize Command Mission, which may be difficult, 'cuz I've never played it before. I might just skip it, but I don't know if it has important things about Axl! I have a laptop computer, so I don't know if a PS2 emulator would be healthy for it. I could just order the game online, but I don't got money… I have the plot all figured out, up until the beginnings of Command Mission. So… expect like, five more chapters, until I go Command Mission shopping! Eh heh, oh yeah… PROPERTY OF CAPCOM!)**_

As soon as the small, flying mechaniloid ejected out of its cell, it screamed its way towards the assailant, but it was shot down immediately by a single energy bullet. Countless more popped out of the ceiling, each with its own complex formation, but each one was shot down, helpless against accuracy. A little change in the air, and Axl suddenly turned around, to meet up with one that snuck up from behind. In seconds, his mind calculated the distance, speed, and trajectory. In one swift motion, he lifted up his gun to the appropriate angle, and let fly another energy shot. In a brief show of sparks, the flying bot exploded. Three from the left zipped off, homing in on their target in a single file line. Axl caught the sight, and spun around, shooting all the while. One, two, three shots, and the group crumbled in midair.

It was invigorating. It was the one feeling that made Axl feel alive. He couldn't stop himself from smirking, which revealed how young he truly was. He loved the quick-thinking decisions and the flashy battles; he was made for combat. It was far too easy. The high was slowly fading away, as Axl grew bored of the bots' obvious flight patterns. He waited absent-mindedly for the simulation to end, while shooting down bots still, so that he could go on to the next level. The computer had calculated his fighting level, and it showed that Axl's edge had dulled a little, so the computer had uploaded a B-class simulation, which embarrassed him a bit. He wondered how a five-day recovery weakened him so much.

"Simulation completed," the computer announced. "Percentage of kills: 100%. Grade level: S-class."

"Sweet!" Axl cheered. "I haven't dulled a bit! Computer doesn't know what it's talking about." He inspected the simulation room, and didn't see a single hole in the walls. Every bullet had connected. His burst of energy suddenly faded, as he thought about his changed systems. He had hoped that training in the simulations would bring out his mysterious power, but the power didn't even give off a spark of energy. A smile found itself on his face. He would just have to try the S-class simulation.

"That's pretty impressive," a voice called out, and Axl noticed that it came from an intercom. He looked to the above room, which was covered by a powerful sheet of glass, and saw that it was none other than Zero, who was waving at him. X stood at his side, smiling with admiration.

"Zero!" Axl yelled out. "And X!"

"Hold on there a moment…" X announced, as Zero disappeared deeper into the room. X took his leave next, and the two entered the simulation room, through the reinforced sliding doors.

"Impressive," Zero continued, while putting up a disappointed face, "for a B-class simulation."

Axl stared at him hard, denying what he had just heard. "Hey, I didn't choose this level! The computer made me take this simulation because it said that my level dropped."

Zero gave off a snort.

"Really?" X said, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't notice anything different."

Axl folded his arms. "Well, whatever. I got a perfect score, so it is impressive!"

"Well, it's good to see that you're finally awake," Zero simply said, dropping the act. Axl could feel the subtle emotion inside the words, and then remembered that Zero had worried the most for him. He thought of telling him about his certain "upgrade," but quickly dismissed the thought. That was his business. Axl merely smiled at his crimson friend.

"So what have you been up to?" X asked him, while looking over the metal debris that littered the simulation room.

"Gotta get back into shape," Axl explained, fondling his prized pistols. "I hear that there are still some mavericks out there, and we could be deployed any moment."

Both X and Zero impassively looked at each other.

"I'm not gonna get sucker-punched again!" Axl continued, not noticing his friends' silence. "I'll take on all those mavericks!"

X and Zero continued to silently stare at one another, each mentally thinking who would respond. Axl noticed the awkward way they were acting.

"What's up?" he asked them.

"Axl," Zero finally said, and X gave off a little sigh of relief. "There's something you should know, and it's really important that you understand."

Axl raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Zero took a moment to ready an explanation, and finally turned to regard Axl. "It's about the new generation reploids. They're going to be terminated, and you…"

Axl suddenly feared what he was going to hear next.

"You…" Zero slowly said, now feeling the weight of the information. "You have to go with them. For scans."

"If the scans find that you could go maverick," X continued, relieving Zero of the duty, "You'll also be terminated."

Axl's face went blank. "What…?"

"It's already been decided," X went on, being careful with his choice of words. "Commander Signas has no choice but to give you up to the new generation reploid facility. Since you're a proto-type, you were going to be terminated too, but we were able to pull some strings for you, so they're just going to scan you."

"We didn't want this for you," Zero added. "I disagreed with the whole idea from the beginning!"

Axl cocked his face backward, and stared above, thinking about what he had just heard. He slowly turned away from his friends, and without even realizing it, he began to pace around the simulation room, pushing broken bots aside. What if his new power revealed that he had the readings of a maverick? Would he have been spared if he were his old self? Every single scan and reading on his systems had been wrong…he thought nothing of it until now. He stopped and stood a ways off from his friends, and finally thought out a decision.

Zero feared that he was going to break down from the sheer guilt of having to tell Axl the turn of events. He wondered what was going through his friend's mind right now; wondered why he suddenly stopped. Zero would rather fight Sigma again than be in this current position. Axl was like a brother, just like X. He'd swore that he'd protect Axl, no matter what, and thought he could make it up to Axl, for letting Lumine strike him down. Now he felt that he had failed Axl again. He looked away, unable to keep his sight in level with the others anymore.

"Well, this really sucks, doesn't it?"

Zero looked up to see a smiling Axl, who was walking up toward him, while spinning his guns around his trigger fingers. X cocked his head in confusion. Zero couldn't believe what he was seeing. "But Axl…" he began, but didn't know what else to add.

"What!?" Axl yelled out, surprising both X and Zero. "Wow, I can't believe you guys! You two always have to mope about everything! Don't you guys ever think positively?"

"…Huh?" Zero uttered. "But…but Axl…you might be terminated! Doesn't that make you upset? How can you—"

"Sure it does!" Axl exclaimed, which made Zero jump back. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna let it affect me! I just have to prove that I'm maverick-proof, just like you and X. Don't you guys remember? Alia had me scanned already, and I was fine. This'll be a snap!"

Zero studied the face of his confident friend, and couldn't help smiling along with him. Axl's carefree attitude had always struck Zero as unprofessional and childish, but seeing his friend now, after having heard unfortunate news, it was almost unexplainable. It was one of his quirks that could never be understood. Zero could only accept it. "You're right, I should be more hopeful."

"We're counting on you to pass the scans," X said, and Axl nodded. "We need you here at the base to finish off the remaining mavericks, so that means coming back to us." He turned to Axl, and gave off a smile of his own.

"Don't worry guys! I'll be back home before you know it!"

Well, you had better come back," Zero said, "and if you don't, I'll track you down and kick your lying ass!"

"Aw, Zero's gonna miss me!" Axl sang, and gave him a shove.

"Hey…" Zero said, trying to keep cool. "Of course I'm going to miss you!"

"Alia told me everything," Axl explained, scoring more points at ticking Zero off. "And here I thought you always got annoyed of me. I feel so special."

"…AXL!" Zero roared, grinding his teeth and flexing his fingers.

Before Zero could react, Axl jumped up, and flew off vertically into the air.

"Well, I better go see Commander Signas, and tell him I'm on way to the new generation reploid facility. See ya!" Keeping in mind to avoid Zero and his famous double-jump, Axl zigzagged around the two hunters, and took off through the door.

Zero, standing stupidly next to X, didn't know how to process Axl's sudden ability to vertically take off and "fly" in the air. He could never do that before. "When could he…?" he said to X, but the blue reploid could only shake his head.

"I don't have a clue," X responded, and the two hunters suddenly heard the fanatical shout of a certain hovering reploid.

"Whoo hoo hoo!"

He wasn't going to let it affect him. As he flew, to his amazement, in the halls of the headquarters (terribly surprising all the residents), he began to question his purpose in life. He was never one to make long-term goals. He decided that he was going to traverse through his future one day at a time. It all almost ended, on that day he and his friends went to the moon for all of humankind. It could have ended there, with Lumine's final attempt at defiance. The rest of his life had almost been taken from him. It was not in his nature to hide away, in a constant fear for his life. He had to go out and resume the life that he had chosen for himself: To take down mavericks. It had much more meaning than just shooting down a couple crazed reploids; it was also about him growing. Maturing. Maybe, he thought, after all this was over, he would learn something meaningful. Something that could benefit him throughout the days of his future. Until then, he had to confront the first obstacle for the day, and that was to prove that he was much too skilled and important to ever be a maverick. He would just have to show those paranoid humans that it wasn't always about the technology behind a reploid's anatomy. It was also about the spiritual beliefs within all reploids.


	5. Chapter 5

_**(It's been… 2010... 2011... 2012... 2... 3.…. too long since last time.)**_

Commander Signas turned off his monitor in his office, after having spoken with government officials regarding the future of the new generation Reploids. He sighed to slowly let out the feeling of being squeezed. It seemed that the manufacturing of the new generation Reploids had ceased all together around the world, by the order of the government. He and the Maverick Hunters were given the task of retrieving all DNA cores and copy chips from defeated Mavericks and send them to the new generation Reploid facility to undergo tests. He wondered what the developers would think when they would discover nothing wrong with their creations. The belief had always been that a Reploid became Maverick because of the virus, and the three laws of robotics held true. Now, Reploids were able to choose to go Maverick if they so desired, of their own free will. Such a fact was still unbelievable to Signas; even frightening. He held Alia's tests as proof for such a statement, due to her status as a former reploid researcher.

The leader of the hunters wondered then, if the virus was ever the cause of the Mavericks in the first place. Reploids could think on their own, and nothing held them back from making an evil decision. Mavericks were around before the virus was discovered. It was a term used to describe rogue Reploids who would no longer follow orders, but today… Signas merely shook his head; who could understand a Maverick's origin?

As he rose from his seat and made his way into the hall, his thoughts wandered to the fate of Axl, a valuable team member to the hunters. He had faith that Axl would be fine, and decided to make his way to the navigation room, when he suddenly heard the whirring of a hovering engine coming from behind. Startled, he turned around to see a certain spiky-haired Reploid spinning in the air. "Axl!?" he exclaimed.

"Oh! Commander Signas! Ahhhh!" Axl ceased his spinning as he passed the commander, then proceeded to crash into the floor, onto his back. "Ouch!"

Signas blinked once, then walked to the downed hunter and stood above him. "Axl?"

Axl groaned, looked up, then quickly got to his feet and raised his hand in a salute. "C-Commander Signas, sir! I'm sorry, I didn't see you!"

Signas chuckled. "At ease, Axl. It's just… you surprised me back there. It looks like you've made a full recovery. I assume X and Zero have told you the current events?"

Axl lowered his hand and nodded. "Yeah, I heard everything, and I'm ready for whatever's gonna come. I was actually looking for you…" Axl gave off a youthful smile, and Signas couldn't help but smile back at such resilience.

"I see. Well, I was on my way to the navigation room to request you to come over, but now that you're here, we can finally prepare for your departure. Come with me."

"Yes sir!" Axl replied.

Before Signas could begin a discussion regarding Axl's imminent fate, the emergency alarm went off, and the hallway began to flash red, with an intercom announcing the current situation.

"Emergency. Emergency. Maverick attack detected. All available hunters report to the navigation room for briefing. Repeat…"

"Oh no…" Axl said, instinctively hovering his hands over his pistols. "Mavericks! And just when everybody said we won elsewhere… " he furrowed his brow, "I would go and help but… man, this bites!"

Signas places his hand onto Axl's shoulder, and turns the hunter toward him. "Nobody said this fight was going to be easy." Signas lets go and proceeds to walk down the hallway, toward his original destination. "Come with me, Axl. I have to see to this current attack, and when it's all over, we can finally get to your current situation."

Axl eagerly catches up with the commander, wanting to get this over with. He secretly hoped Commander Signas would send him to help his fellow hunters, but he knew that wasn't possible. If he showed himself in public, it could cause a panic, and not to mention anger the higher-ups. Axl wished his day wouldn't be so complicated.

^_x_^

"What's our current situation, Layer?" Commander Signas asks the navigator, with long, flaring purple hair, and curvaceous body. He stood behind her seat, looking at the monitor with concern.

Layer, not looking up to greet the commander, continued to stare at her monitor, typing and clicking, studying the many lists of potential threats in the areas where Maverick hunters had been deployed.

"A recent uprising in this construction site has been keeping on-duty hunters occupied all day." She raises her hand and points to a city's location within a list. "It seems the Mavericks intend to raid the supplies, and on top of that the construction mechaniloids have gone on a rampage. The hunters are too pre-occupied with evacuating civilians in the neighboring city, and can't deal with the Mavericks directly."

"I see," Signas simply said, crossing his arms with his chin in hand. "We'll have to send reinforcements, then."

Layer shook her head. "I was thinking of having a backup squadron sent, but our numbers are being stretched thin as it is. We don't have enough hunters at home to handle this, and hunters deployed elsewhere won't make it there in time."

Signas looks over Layer's computer, and worked his processors to a decision."We don't seem to have any choice then, Layer. We'll have to send any able-bodied hunters to the sight, to assist in the evacuation, and have X and Zero teleported directly to the fight. Once the area is secured, have any available hunters back up X and Zero, and we'll close in on the Mavericks."

"Yes sir," Layer calmly replied, but she was far from calm. She had been on reconnaissance for the past two days, and had felt the first signs of system fatigue hours ago, but with so many others stationed elsewhere, Layer had to give everything she had. Alia was too busy preparing the DNA cores of the new generation Reploids, and Pallette was ordered to the R&D Lab to develop materials to backup damaged weapons in previous Maverick assaults. Layer was the only one available to work on the navigator shift. She still had hunters cleaning up yesterday's assault on a hunter base, and now she had to deal with another uprising. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and turn everything off.

Signas turned away, making his way toward the main computer screen, scanning the navigation room a full 360 degrees. 1, 2, 3... 4, 5, 6...

Only 19 hunters were able to report. Before he could ask, X and Zero finally made their entrance, and Signas was pleased that their faces showed no signs of weakness, only signs of determination and focus for the incoming mission.

"Another Maverick uprising has arisen at these coordinates," Signas began, and raised his hand to the computer screen as it showed the location on the world. The computer zooms in to reveal a developing urban area, and the camera moves to a construction sight where mechaniloids were tearing down buildings within the city, with confirmed Mavericks raiding storages units throughout the area. "The Mavericks have targeted this particular location to take these resources used in the development of this city, and are threatening the public with rogue mechaniloids, and deployed hunters on patrol have no choice but to evacuate the nearby civilians. We have confirmed injuries."

The hunters gasp and groan, are fearful and angered. X's face is impassive, but his emotions are swirling. He knows he needs to put his feelings behind him when it comes to his duty. He valued all life, and somehow he felt a connection with every walking Reploid. He is, after all, the original. But he knew that when a Maverick threatened an innocent life, he had to make a choice. The aggressor had to be put down, for the sake of others. No matter how simple the decision was, it always left an impression on X's heart. X takes a glance at Zero, who also shows no expression, but merely a twitch of his eyebrow, a subtle scowl about to form, but held back.

Signas turns to face everyone, and continues. "All available units are to teleport off site to assist in the evacuation, and to keep the enemy restricted within the construction sight. Meanwhile, I'll have X and Zero teleport directly within the perimeter, and have those mechaniloids taken care of. Once that's done, intercept the Mavericks, and take any alive, if you can."

Zero, with his arms folded, clenches his fists, eager to put down any who would oppose him. He couldn't help but feel satisfaction from forcing his beam saber into an enemy's armor. It was ruthless, but when it came to the safety of the innocent, he felt no hesitation in taking lives. He knew, though, that that wasn't the only way to approach things. He thought of X, of his compassion, and his forgiveness… things foreign to the crimson hunter. Truth be told, it was X's true strength, and Zero felt that his friend was superior to him, despite his being physically stronger than the blue hunter.

"Dismissed!" Signas commanded, and the hunters all take their place on the floor.

Layer types a command on her computer, and the floor illuminates, flashing lights under the hunters' feet. One after the other, the hunters are engulfed in a light the same color as their armor, and dematerialize. X and Zero take their places next, and as their bodies light up, they spot Axl, standing next to Layer, with his thumb up, and with a smile on his face.

"See ya, guys," Axl whispers to himself, and the two hunters vanish.

_**(I hope my crappy writing isn't too hard to understand. All these years, and I haven't gotten any better… The navigation room is based on the room X, Zero, and Axl are in when Sigma starts flashing on the big screen in X8. It's also supposed to be like the room from when Zero and Axl talk with X in the beginning of X7. The teleporting part is like in Mega Man Zero, when Zero stands in the middle of the room and the two navigator girls teleport him. The mechaniloids are like the ones in the first stage in X8, and the ones in the Maverick Hunter X OVA. Heh heh heh… go on SHADawn's profile page to read some stuff!)**_


End file.
